EU Affairs

A
ground breaking agreement between healthcare employers and employees will give
medical staff greater protection against injuries from needle sticks and other
sharp objects when at work. With over one million such injuries every year in
Europe, these are one of the most common health and safety threats staff,
particularly in hospitals, face. They can cause infections, trauma and serious
illnesses such as viral hepatitis and AIDs.

The
eight-page agreement was signed in mid-July by the European Hospital and
Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM) and the European Public Services
Union (EPSU) after five months of negotiations.

Welcoming
the decision to give a higher priority to tackling the phenomenon, Godfrey
Perera, HOSPEEM’s general secretary, said that the deal was in the interest of
hospital and healthcare employers since they had a moral obligation to protect
the health and safety of their staff.

“It
also benefits both employers and employees because a proper risk assessment
carried out reduces risks and improves employee health and safety, thereby
decreasing the number of days lost by these highly trained staff, thus reducing
costs,” he added. Karen Jennings, the president of EPSU’s health committee
echoed the benefits the agreement would bring, saying “it makes a clear and
positive contribution to the working lives of Europe’s healthcare workers”.

The
agreement sets out to ensure the safest possible working environment for
employees in the healthcare sector; to prevent injuries caused by all types of
sharp medical objects; and to establish an integrated approach towards
assessing and preventing risks. It also includes better training and
information for workers.

A
clause confirms that “all workers in the hospital and healthcare sector” and
anyone under the managerial authority and supervision of the employers are
covered by the provisions. It also notes that “employers should deploy efforts
to ensure that subcontractors follow the provisions laid down in this
agreement”.

Special
emphasis is given to thorough risk assessments. These will include an exposure
determination, understanding of the importance of a well resourced and
organised working environment and cover all situations “where there is injury,
blood or other potentially infectious material”.

The
agreement spells out in detail the measures that hospital and healthcare
managers must take if the assessments reveal potential sources of injury. They
must specify, implement and regularly review safe procedures for using and
disposing of sharp medical instruments and contaminated waste.

In
addition, they should eliminate the unnecessary use of sharp implements by
changing practices and introducing “safety-engineered protection mechanisms”.
The new code of conduct insists that the practice “of recapping shall be banned
with immediate effect”.

To
further reduce the risk of possible dangers, the guidelines emphasise the need
for effective disposal procedures and clearly marked and technically safe
containers close to the areas where sharp and injection equipment are regularly
used. They point to the importance of adequate training of personnel and
regular health surveillance procedures.

Although
students undertaking clinical training as part of their education are not
formally considered as workers under the agreement, they will be covered by its
prevention and protection measures and any liabilities will be regulated
according to national legislation and practice.

The
agreement, which was hammered out in detail over five months earlier this year
by the two employer and employee organisations that represent a sector with
some 3.5 million jobs will soon be given stronger legal status. The European
Commission, at the request of the two signatories, is preparing to table a
draft proposal to enshrine the text in European law. This is unlikely to face
major hurdles as it passes through the formal EU legislative process.

The
agreement is the result of careful preparation. The initial impetus came from
the European Parliament. In July 2006, it passed a resolution on the need to
protect healthcare employees in Europe from blood-borne infections caused by
needle stick injuries and called on the European Commission to draft the
necessary legislation.

This
led to close contacts between HOSPEEM and EPSU on the issue. These included a
technical seminar in February 2008 involving all those confronted by the
problem. This highlighted the many causes of injuries in hospitals and
healthcare services. The negotiations began in January 2009 and were completed
in June.

During
the whole process, European MEPs have kept up pressure to ensure the issue
remains on policy makers’ agenda. As recently as April during a parliamentary
debate on patient safety, the British Labour MEP Linda McAvan reminded her
colleagues that an estimated one million employees in Europe’s health services
were affected by needle stick injuries. “This could be avoided if the needles
they were using were replaced with a safer kind,” she said.

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